Allegations of improper professional conduct surface against one of the industry's leading players.
You know you are in a bear market when private banks – which previously couldn’t hire fast enough in Asia – begin to censure executive search firms for being too pushy. Two in particular, HSBC and Citi, have blacklisted a Hong Kong-based executive search firm for «being too pushy with candidates», according to sources close to the matter.
The firm, considered a leader in the space, stands accused of being «too pushy on candidate expectations» – i.e putting prospects in front of senior management and then upping the ask once they get past the first round. When asked if this is common practice, one ex-private banking CEO refused to comment on the specific firm but acknowledged «it does happen.»
Bidding War For Candidates
Another grouse against the firm is that it «played one bank against the other» in an attempt to get banks into a bidding war for candidates. On this, the ex-CEO is more vocal: «It’s an underhand tactic but one which worked to the headhunter’s advantage in a bull market when banks wanted to buy bankers and their books as a means to expand,» he says. «As CEOs we came under fire if [candidates] were hired away so often the balance of power was skewed.»
